Measure O costs too much
“The proponents of Measure O claim that buying out Cal Am will almost instantly provide savings on water costs of 25 percent to 35 percent. They have not produced an independent study that has been publicly scrutinized or vetted by experts and never talk about what Measure O will cost.
Measure O is what is known as an “unfunded mandate.” That is, it requires the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District to do some very expensive tasks but does not provide a single dollar to pay for it. MPWMD has a limited budget; its only real source of revenue is from the district’s residents and commercial ratepayers.
Let’s look at some estimated costs mandated by Measure O:
• Measure O election: $75,000
• Feasibility study (estimates run from $300,000 to $1 million): $600,000
• Eminent domain proceedings (Cal Am is not for sale, so the district will have to sue Cal Am to force the sale through eminent domain/condemnation. Estimates are $5 million to $10 million and three to five years): $7,000,000
• Cost to purchase Cal Am (estimates run $300 million to $1 billion): $600,000,000
At this point Measure O has cost residents over $575 million without producing one drop of water!”
McKenzie, Bob and John Narigi and Mike Zimmerman. Monterey Herald 10 May 2014.